


Force Majeure (Loki x Reader)

by SilentWanderlust



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Suggestive Themes, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 02:44:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17235848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilentWanderlust/pseuds/SilentWanderlust
Summary: Vicious conflict and rabid argumentation was your standard method of operation with Loki. When you’re placed on a mission together, your expectations are shattered and remolded into something far more dangerous than open conflict.





	Force Majeure (Loki x Reader)

The sounds of grating metal became warbling cries of emergency vehicles. Mutilated bodies littered the ground. Grotesque barriers between rescuers and their marks. You stood against Loki, betwixt the mayhem, your weapons hanging half-staff at your side. Grimy dregs of battle clamped to you, sticky and sour, melding with your sweat and blood.

A traffic light hung over you, spurting electricity as it swayed. Abandoned cars, some upright, others toppled over, encircled you. Making a cage around yourself and Loki. You didn’t know whether it was for your protection or those unfortunately near you.

But, this was destined to happen regardless. The proximity didn’t matter, you and Loki were close enough.

“You’re insufferable,” You kicked debris from your warpath. It flipped and impaled the asphalt as they collided, sending ragged cracks through the ground like lightning. A crouching civilian stumbled away, screaming as the shattering ground gained on her. “I could have died and it would have been your fault!”  

Adrenaline throbbed in your ears. Shocks of energy spun through your veins like a drug. Recognizing the incoming altercation, your mind cleared along with the dust of war as if they were one and the same.

Loki stood on the other side of the intersection, his leather gear licked in dirt and blood, no different than your own. Your stomach churned at the realization he wasn’t so different than yourself in that moment.

Wind blew hard enough to hear, whipping through the buildings surrounding you. Loki’s hair caught blood dripping from his temple as it moved with the violent gusts.

What differentiated you from him in the eyes of the shell-shocked onlookers? Two horrifying figures, wielding gilt weapons and an obvious vendetta. To them, you were Loki’s chipped mirror, a disjointed, but crystal reflection.   

“My fault?” Loki met you in the middle of the road, pointing at your chest. “You should have pushed the thing away so it didn’t come barreling at my face.”

“If I pushed it away it would have hit Cap,” You blinked the burning dust from your eyes. “It was a split-second decision.”

“So you settle for it hitting me?” Loki threw his arms wide, looking side to side for someone present to justify his opinion. The timid crowd looked away, holding themselves or loved ones. You smiled sadly at a mother clutching her daughter, tears dripping down her face. Swallowing back a sob at the sight of the dirty, but intact family, you wheeled on Loki, reflecting the hurt through anger.

“Clearly I did!” You yelled as if it were obvious. “Did we not just see the same thing?”

“If you’d chosen more wisely, it wouldn’t have come after you when it was done harassing me,” Loki’s voice echoed across the skyscrapers. “All you did was make it angrier.”

Cracked windows dotted the buildings, some salvageable, others shattered beyond repair. Screaming citizens waved, alerting the swarming first responders of their presence. You looked away for one moment and Loki was in your face, chest heaving as he stared down at you.

“Take a step back,” You hissed, putting your palms to his chest. Refusing to stumble back in a show weakness, even as every nerve urged you to, you grabbed his gear and held strong as he closed in.

“No.” Loki gripped your shoulders, digging his fingers deep.

Words slipped away. Red cut your vision as you stared in defiance. Loki’s strained breath was warm against your skin that burned with infection. You had yet to identify the inflicting wound.

Uncomfortable with the continued eye contact, you gazed down Loki’s neck. His pulse pounded under the surface, visible only with the proximity. Swallowing hard, you wrapped your hands on his wrists. It tingled and burned like fire, exhilarating and painful as it hit. Loki felt it too, rejecting his own hold on your arms at the familiarity of your touch. Scowling, he wiped his shaking hands on his chest.

“Thank you,” You clenched your fists hanging in the air, stuck like you still held his wrists. “Now get out of my face so I can do the other part of my job that doesn’t include destroying entire cities.”

“ _Gladly_ ,” Loki swiped the air and turned away, stalking through the settling dust, past whimpering onlookers clamoring for first responders.

Hurrying to a woman and child you’s noticed earlier, you fell to your knees at their side.

“Are you hurt?” You ran your scraped hands over the small girl’s knotted hair, looking to the mother for confirmation. She shook her head pulled you into a one-armed hug.

“Was that -” The mother’s question drifted. “That thing?”

“Yes,” You pulled back from the embrace. “That was Loki.” You gazed over your shoulder but he was long-gone. “Let’s find an EMT and get you checked out.”

A blast rang from above. An escape pod collided with the building across from you, raining burning debris. Leaping forward, you shielded the child’s head as she and her mother screamed.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay,” You whispered to the child as sheets of metal scraped past you, catching your ear and hair as it passed. “You’re going to be fine. I promise.”

Piles of rock and concrete built around you, slipping downwards like an avalanche the taller they became. When you were able to open your eyes. The single scream you heard was the daughter calling for her mother, still and glassy eyed, staring at the horror of forever.

\----

“Absolutely not,” You pushed past Tony to leave the room. “I’m going to sit this one out.”

He grabbed your wrist and flipped you back around, making your shoulder creak with the pressure. You knew you were acting a petulant child, but the thought of spending any time with Loki was unfathomable. The world would burn before you shared a civil conversation. But in the darkest door of your soul, you knew Loki was an excuse. This mission stung you, freezing your judgement in the eyes of an nine year old child reliving their worst nightmare.

“You’re the best person for this job,” Tony gripped tight as you tugged your arm. “I understand it’s not easy for you.”

“Send Nat, she’s good with kids,” You twisted your arm enough to loosen Tony’s hold. “And don’t assume you know what is and isn’t easiest for me.”

“Really?” Tony crossed his arms, groaning his distaste. “You do remember who you’re talking to, right?”

“You were an adult,” You cringed at the brash statement. Shoulders slumping like rocks hung from you arms, you dropped into a chair beside you. “I’m sorry.” You whispered, staring past Tony’s shoulder into the blinking brilliance of New York’s night. “That was cruel of me.”

You pulled your legs into yourself, locking them together with your arms on your knees.

“I know the other day shook you,” Tony dragged a chair across the tile. It scraped hard, creating a dull ache in your teeth. “But time is running out for this girl. She could either be dead in a day or become a multi-use superweapon if we don’t get her.”

“I could have saved them both,” Your head drooped. Biting at your crinkling nails, cracked with days of stressful attention, you ripped off a hanging end and spit it towards the floor. “But I didn’t. I made a choice and now that girl doesn’t have a mother.”

Your neck ached with the pressure of the parasitic cut tracing from ear to shoulder. You’d fought through the wobbling fevers and unrestrained chills. Pressing it with the pads of your fingers, you traced the wound like a ski-slope, curving and cutting. The mesh coverings adhering skin to skin felt alien as your body fought them with fever. Your mind and cells worked as opposites, fighting internally like rabid dogs.

“They would both be dead if you hadn’t,” Tony crouched at your side, pushing a fist into his cheek as your disappeared into your mind.

“But they’d be together,” You closed your eyes, reliving the horror, tasting the soot and smelling the burning flesh. “And I made another choice. I wasted precious seconds arguing with Loki over nothing. I could have gotten both of them out before the escape pod hit. I saw them before I instigated a fight. Then they wouldn’t have been there in the first place.”

“Then this is a good time to work out your differences,” Tony pat your shoulder as he stood. “You have half an hour before the jet leaves. Get what you need. Don’t let this girl die because you’re stuck in your head.”

\----

The crisp night air whipped past as the jet rose, clouds breaking, cut with metal and fuel fumes. Twinkling lights of New York succumbed to the stormy cloud cover. Red lights blinked on the wings until they disappeared as the jet fizzled into stealth mode. You stared, pressing your forehead to the glass, deaf to the others with you.

The three of you together cramped the jet; with Thor physically and Loki mentally. You felt his breath in your chest, closing in, even though he sat manageably far. It was like crinkling snow falling slowly, building mounds of sharp ice the longer it lasted, worsening every silent minute.

“Y/N, Y/N!” Thor shook you, pulling you from your trace as your body wavered. Your wound tugged at your skin like a needle pulling thread as you spun. “Did you hear me?”

“No,” Your looked to Loki but your head remained in place. He lounged against the exit ramp. His green armor stuck out like moss on lava rock in the darkness. He thumbed at an intricate dagger boasting intertwined serpents, meeting at the hilt. Toxic green moved through the snakes, spinning into pools of noxious green, only to split again and repeat their course. Loki caught your eye in a flash and then it was back to the dagger to negate the sudden meeting. His lips caught wind of a smile and faded into black.

“Don’t antagonize me now,” You whispered, grinding your teeth. The chilling words were warm breath against your gums.

“I didn’t intend to,” Thor crossed his arm, shifting legs and fumbling uncomfortably under your morose focus.

“I wasn’t talking about yo-,” Something buzzed against your leg. You reached for the phone at your side, the light illuminating the cut of your features. Blinking the stinging brightness from your eyes, you slid your thumb to open a pending message.

_She dies tonight. Good luck._

\----

“Shut up!” You rushed up to Loki, his long strides outpacing your own. “For once in your useless life, will you shut up? I can’t think with your acidic voice in my ears.”

The cave dripped, breaking up every word you spoke. Slick with condensation, water pooled in uneven dents in the floor, making every step a gamble. Abandoned machinery lined the walls, melding into one as rock consumed them over time. Nothing but a light in the distance indicated your progress.

“That was uncalled for,” Thor pat your back.

“I don’t really care how I come off to you right now,” You dug in your pocket for your phone. It showed no signal and blinked red, searching for a connection. No other message had arrived since the first, but you checked incessantly. Even with no signal, something told you whoever had this girl could get you a message regardless. “This girl is going to die and I won’t have another one of my conscience this week. So both of you, shut up and _listen_.”

“That’s what this is all about?” Loki stopped in a puddle of murky water. “The woman you wake up screaming about in the middle of the night? The one from the city whose daughter watched her die with you?”

You screamed in frustration and shoved your fists into your eyes. “There is so much I could say about what you just said to me but I am going to assume you’re suffering a sudden loss of tact and ignore it for the sake of my own sanity.”

“I have tact when it’s worth it,” Loki huffed as you shoved him aside.

Time was running low and every moment you gave was a smaller chance of success.

“Maybe she has a point, brother,” Thor stepped between yourself and Loki, forming a physical barrier. “Not with the pushing you. The you need to be silent thing.”

“Wonderful,” Loki wiped dirt from his gear. “Now you’re both on me. I can’t imagine a better way to spend my Saturday. Please, tell me what else I can do to entertain you. It’s not like I had any other plans.”

“Do tell,” You walked faster, feeling the weight of the phone in your pocket. “What else could you possible have to do tonight?”

“Anything but saving a worthless mortal gir-” Loki stumbled back as you slammed into him, throwing him against a derelict computer setup resembling something from the eighties. Pressing your elbow into the soft skin of his neck, you dug your arm deep enough to feel his adams apple. Loki smiled, egging you on.

“She is not worthless. _You_ are the most worthless man I’ve ever met,” You whispered near his lips, pushing yourself against him to block Thor’s view. Drops of water dripped down his face from the ceiling, catching his skin.

“Lucky for you, I’m not mortal so I am not a man,” Loki pressed his forehead against yours, pushing your head back.

“You’re right,” You pressed back. “You’re a monster.”

“Y/N,” Thor grabbed your waist, pulling you from Loki like a fumbling ragdoll. “Brother. That’s enough posturing from both of you.”

Loki’s fists gripped the jagged rock behind him, restraining himself from following after you. The green from his armor caught on light through slits in the ceiling, aged with incessant rain. The slices of moonlight caught the confliction on his face; a concoction of blatant fury and confused understanding. His eyebrows dipped and his lids widened as he moved from the wall, walking past you hanging in Thor’s arms like a baby in a carrier.

Whatever glimpse of emotion you’d seen in the cut of the moonlight was enough to push Loki forward, silent and determined.

You shuttered as Thor placed you on the ground with care. Your knees groaned as your toes hit the rock before your heels. Shaking off the shock, you hurried after Loki. Water splashed your heels as you ran after him.

“Loki,” Heaviness set into your chest, the weight of anxious doubt. “I didn’t mean - I misspoke.”

“Don’t lie to me,” Loki spun on you. Water cast circles as his cape flew like a clock. “You meant every word you said. Sometimes the things said in anger are more honest than those said when collected. Thank you for telling me what you really think of me.”

“Don’t try and guilt me,” Your voice came strained. “I lashed out. You’re not a monster.”

“You’ve never done anything to show me you think otherwise,” Loki towered over you, his chest meeting yours as he heaved. “Truly, what have I done to you? Not to your people as a whole. I know perfectly well what I’ve done to them. But what have I done to _you_?” His hair fell over his shoulders, catching the sweat on your face, lacing into your lashes and eyes. His quaking hands dug into your waist, his fingers spread wide against your side, holding you still. “You attacked me in the city the other day like you’ve done a dozen times before. You come after me for nothing but standing in your air. Have you once, just once, stopped and considered the effect that may have?”

“On you?” You clutched his wrists as you’d done in the intersection; but this time Loki didn’t let go, he held tighter. The urgency in his touch translated to his eyes. Though little light illuminated you, the conversation in his gaze was bright as day. He begged you to understand without asking you outright, without asking you to understand _him_.

The soft lines of your palm grazed Loki’s wrist where the gear coverage failed. It jolted you alive and you stumbled out of his hold. “I haven’t and I don’t intend to.”

Loki pushed his tongue to his teeth and gently urged you away from him. “Thank you for the clarity.”

\----

The cave converged, getting smaller the farther you went. Drips from the water dissipated and the machinery in the wall moved through the decades, improving every few minutes.

What was dilapidated became functioning structures. Red lights blinked and an iridescent blue substance twisted and turned in tubes, connecting and powering the machines. The rock walls, previously mixed with man made creations, consumed over time, were mutilated to fit newer items. None looked familiar, moving with the rainbow of lights in the room, rippling like you stepped in a wave pool.

Pulling your gun from your waist, you bent down as the encroaching light eclipsed the darkness. Loki walked behind you and Thor behind him, like a step-ladder. As you turned the corner, Loki grabbed your middle and pulled you against his chest.

“What are you doing?” You smacked his side with your free hand, locking your weapon back at your side.

“I don’t want you dying if I don’t get the pleasure of watching it myself,” Loki dropped you behind him as the light flashed and a girl screamed. It was a warbling sound of pain and confusion. And it couldn’t have been from a girl older than ten. The high-pitched lilt in her voice ripped your chest, tearing your heart like claws scratching across your torso.

“No,” You pushed past Loki but he caught your wrist before you rounded the corner a second time. You grasped at the wall, trying to escape Loki’s hold. With a frustrated groan, you let go and were again against Loki’s chest.

“Y/N,” Loki dragged a finger down your hair to pull it from your ear. It caught in his finger and tugged at your scalp as he landed on your shoulder. “Don’t be rash. Think about what you’re doing.”

Loosening your limbs, you dropped out of Loki’s hold. Sliding across the floor, you crashed to a stop against a metal cage. Head slamming against the bars, you hissed and gripped your temple, the throbbing sticking you like a dozen needles across your skin.

“Who are you?” The girl screamed over the sounds of chains clanking as she heaved against them. Thick rings of metal encased her ankles and wrists, holding her limbs at unnatural angles. “Let me out!” She hollered, accusing you, like you’d jailed her in the pits of Hell.

“Y/N!” Loki held his hands out as you stood slowly, legs shaking with the weight of the sight before you. “Don’t put your own trauma on this child. Think of yourself. Think about what you’re doing.”

“I am,” You waved him away, stepping towards the over sized, barred door. Eyes glazed, you pulled your weapon again, keeping note of the girl. She heaved and screamed, thrashed and yelled words no child should know. The door buzzed with electricity. Shocks of bottle-sized lightning struck the bars, wrapping them like serpents.

An intricate, circular lock corralled the door. Floating shapes bounced within the circle like three dimensional blocks. Gritting your teeth, you shot the contraption. The bullet ricocheted and you dropped as it whizzed over your head. Thor swung his hammer and the bullet disintegrated into a raining powder.

“You’re not,” Loki clutched your wrist, pulling you back upright. Tugging against his hold, your feet scraped the floor as you reached desperately for the lock. “Just because you’re mother’s dead, it doesn’t give you leisure to botch everything when a mortal child looks at you with pleading eyes. You’re better than this.”

“What did you say to me,” Your whipped your head back, hair colliding with your eyes, slicing the soft outer layer as they fell back into place. “You have no right.”

Thor slammed his hammer into the lock, shattering it. It sent a tornado of glass through the room, catching in the gentle skin of your face.

“Your dead mother doesn’t permit you to behave like a witless child. I’ve seen enough of this.” Loki said.

“That’s enough,” You screamed, the pain in your temples building. “That’s too far.”

Loki’s chest heaved as you stared wordlessly, sizing up the other. Ears buzzing, the screams faded as you traced the lines of his armor, his mouth and eyes hanging open.

Relenting, Loki reached for you, dragging you desperately close, giving you a look molding confusion and sudden understanding. Numb, you complied as your phone buzzed,

“No,” You whispered, fumbling in your pocket. Concerned more with the message than Loki’s touch, you dug faster. “No, no, no, no. Thor, get her. Please, get her.”

The square of light hit the ceiling as you read the message.

_It’s been fun but I’m getting bored and there’s not much more time. I’d suggest you run._

Loki dragged you against his side, pulling the phone from your quaking hands.

“Brother,” Loki held you close, the chilliness of his gear pressed into your face, forming divots against your cheek. He shifted his gaze to your terror-stricken stare, stuck on the screen he held. “Get the girl. _Quickly_.”

Thor rushed into the cell. You slammed your elbow into Loki’s stomach and broke free as he loosened his grip in surprise.

“We’re getting you out,” You bolted to the girl, dodging falling chords, alight with electricity. “How do the chains come off?” Falling in front of the child, you grabbed her cheeks. Warmth like a fever emanated from her skin. Knees scratching against the rugged metal, you shifted as your kneecaps tugged against the ground.

“I don’t know,” She whispered, lip quivering as she decided your true intentions. “I don’t know. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You aren’t going to hurt me,” You rubbed her tears with your thumbs. They were as warm as her skin. “I promise.”

Looking around desperately, you saw it; a lever sat high above human height, hanging from the top corner of the bars.

“Thor,” You waved him in the direction of the lever.

He heaved his hammer. It cracked the lever, catching the electricity illuminating the dreary room. The lever shattered and the girl’s shackles fell. Clanking eerily, the chains pooled around her.

Picking her up, you yelped as the lights shut off. She was dead weight against you and you groaned, heaving her up higher for a better hold. Her arms burned your neck like a warm summer day, singing the gentle hairs at the base of your skull.

The electricity came in shocks, igniting into fire above you as the falling lines connected. The pale white of electricity because the roaring red of fire. Smoke consumed the room as the flames moved above you. Coughing as it slipped through your lungs, you ran from the room. Loki and Thor ran, easily overtaking you.

The child cried in your arms, mumbling her incessant apologies. Burying her head in your neck, tears fell down your front.

A deafening crash echoed through the hall as the room with the cage collapsed in on itself. Rocks rolled towards you as a barrier formed, building itself from stone.

Though the room was now sealed with rock, smoke seeped through small holes, following you as your ran. Noxious air burned your eyes and you stumbled over a discarded tool on the ground.

Loki caught you as you fell forward with the girl. She screamed and held you tighter. Her eyes glazed with tears, illuminated in the blinking lights of the growing ancient machines. You swallowed a breath of smoke and coughed deep in your chest as it connected with your throat.

“Give her to me,” Loki motioned for the girl.

“No,” You kept moving, holding her so tight you squeezed her. “I don’t want you anywhere near either of us. I’ve had enough of you.”

“Of course,” Loki scowled as the light of day erupted before you.

\----

“What’s your name, love?” You sat cross legged on the jet with the girl. A blanket wrapped her as she shook. Blood and black, smoky residue painted her brilliant blonde curls. She wore nothing but rags, destroyed intentionally or with time, you were unsure.

The light of morning crested the mountain tops below you. Reds and oranges bounced from the silvery metal inside the ship, darkening the lines of the girl’s face.

She held a water bottle in her hands, staring warily, like it was booby trapped to attack her if she took a sip.

“You’re not thirsty?” You smiled sadly as she shook her head. “I can take a sip first if it makes you feel better.” Offering to take the bottle, you held out your hand.

She stared with distant eyes. Then with a sudden jolt of realization, threw herself into your arms, knocking you to the floor.

“I’m Marya,” The girl hugged you tight and your heart stuttered at the gesture.

“I don’t mean to intrude,” Loki looked down at you laying on the floor like a starfish. His eyes trailed from the curve of your neck to the turn of your hips.

“Then leave,” You pushed yourself back to a seated position, holding Marya on your knee. She gripped your shoulders, looking warily at Loki towering above you both.

Seeing her uneasiness, you hoisted her up with you as you stood, locking her on your hip. The weight on your side ached immediately but you ignored it. Marya frowned as her blanket slipped to the floor but clutched to you anyways, deciding to abandon it.   

Even standing, Loki was at least a head taller than you. But the smaller open space between you soothed you. It reset the power balance.  

“Your presence isn’t wanted here,” You turned with Marya, whispering that Loki was an annoyance and no real threat.

“He’s scary,” Marya watched him over your shoulder as you took her to the window to watch the passing landmarks. “I don’t like him.”

“Neither do I, Marya,” You looked back to Loki, venomous pleasure clear in the cut of your lips. “I’ll keep the mean man away from you.”

Loki blinked away any semblance of emotion, turning to the front of the jet where Thor sat, watching the entire exchange with a frown.

\----

**Three Weeks Lat** **er:**

Loki sat across from you in the conference room. Tony babbled about something you didn’t care to understand. Loki’s stare was enough of a distraction. You couldn’t have focused if you’d tried any harder. His slight smirk grew every time you looked away and back again. He was enjoying this torment.

You hadn’t seen or spoken to him in weeks, and intended to keep it that way. The other Avengers predominantly watched Tony as he motioned to a map of Indonesia. But Natasha eyed you both from the other side of the room.

 _Hello_ , Loki mouthed to you, his lips remaining open in enjoyment.

Shaking you head at Loki you readjusted in your chair, trying to focus on the presentation.

It worked, momentarily, until his foot was on yours under the table. Eyes bulging, you ripped your legs away, pulling them under yourself in your seat.

“I think that’s everything you need to know for now,” Tony wiped his hands together. “Go do something worthwhile, please.”

You jumped from your chair. It rolled back and crashed against the wall with your sudden movement. Everybody looked to you in surprise.

“I’m going to play checkers with Marya,” You put your chair back in place and rushed for the exit.

With a final look back, you saw Loki standing too, a dangerous promise in his eyes.

\----

The common room was chilly as you sat on the floor with Marya, playing a game of checkers. It was a nice, mindless diversion from the meeting that just ended.

The prickling sense of being watched caught your shoulders as you leaped a piece over Marya’s. She frowned at your success, pulling her eliminated piece from the board and throwing it in her discard pile.

“Why won’t you let me beat you?” She said, running her fingers through the pyramid of collecting pieces. They toppled over and she went to placing them back in a meticulous stack.

You’d played dozens of games of checkers with her the past few weeks. It was the only thing she’d taken a liking to, other than yourself. Marya was calm while she played and a game at bedtime helped her sleep through the night in an inexplicable way.

“Because you’ll learn better when you figure out how to win,” You leaned back on your hands and she jumped your piece triumphantly. “Look at that. You’re getting better already.”

Marya’s time was spent going through vigorous testing at Tony’s behest and relaxing every other minute with you. She didn’t speak much, but when she did, it was with purpose or to sass you out of a clean game of checkers.

Marya suddenly stood, stumbling back onto the edge of a rocking chair, nearly tumbling into it as she lost her footing. You reacted immediately, spinning to see the source of her distress.

“Loki,” You reached for Marya who grasped your hand tight, wrapping both her arms around your own.

“Y/N,” Loki stepped farther in the room.

“You aren’t going to leave, are you?” Your chest stuttered as he simply shook his head.

Heat buzzed between you, like a silent conversation.

“Marya,” You kept your gaze on Loki, watching every hand twitch and eyebrow quirk. “Why don’t you go spend some time with Wanda, I’m sure she’d be happy to see you.”

“I want to keep playing checkers,” Marya stomped her foot, frowning at the injustice of the situation.

“We’ll keep playing in a bit,” You pushed Marya towards the door. “Go tell Wanda she’s in charge of you for a while.”

Marya huffed and crossed her arms as she left, straying to the side to avoid Loki. He watched her go, waiting for the door to shut before speaking.

“I-” Loki began.

“I don’t want to speak with you,” You interrupted. “It was out of line for you to bring up my mother.”

“And you calling me a monster was out of line,” Loki returned, ambling forward every moment.

“Was it?” You shoved your hands against your face, running them up and through your roots. The unmistakable growl of fury in your voice grew. “All you do is ruin and destroy. You wanted to leave Marya for dead. You _mock_ that I care. You mock that I don’t take pleasure in failing to protect the people around me, that I don’t value my own skin above all else like you do.”

“That’s what you think of me?” Loki was on you now. “Do you not remember what I did in that cave?”

“I remember you thinking I ought to abandon Marya,” You said, being pushed back against the chair as Loki closed in. “I remember you holding me back when I tried to get her sooner. Is that what you’re talking about?”

“Your selective memory is infuriating,” Loki was against your chest, the warmth of his breath encroaching on the coolness of the room. “I recall ensuring you didn’t die prematurely and encouraging Thor to get the girl at your request, even after it had been made clear we were in danger. Is that what _you’re_ talking about?”

The air was electrifying, as if you were touching him without your fingers on him. His focus was sharp, jumping from your lips to your eyes.

“I hadn’t looked at it that way-” Your voice drifted as your mouth fell open in painful realization. “I was consumed with my mother.”

“I regret that,” Loki’s hair fell over his shoulder as he leaned down to speak against your ear. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t lie,” You snapped.

“I’m not,” Loki frowned at your outburst.

“You are!”

“I most certainly am not,” Loki pulled back, conflicted with your glare.

“Really? _Prove it_.”

And then he was kissing you. Hands around your neck, Loki pulled you in to him, drawing your mouth up to meet his own. Unrestrained and unrelenting, he dragged his thumbs over your burning cheeks, feeling the warmth against his cool skin.

You gasped as Loki pulled away to kiss down your jaw. His hands grazed your shoulders, then your arms, and landed carefully on your waist, testing how far you’d allow him to go.

“What are you doing?” You panted as he spun you to walk you back against the wall, his hands guiding you as you moved across the carpet. Each experimenting with the rhythms of the other’s movements.

The wall was rough against your back, uneven paint digging divots in your skin.

“Must I explain?” Loki pushed himself into you, shoulders sinking low to eclipse your vision. His chest pressed hard against yours as he slipped a leg between your ankles to hold you in place.

“No,” You grabbed his neck as he’d done yours. “Just don’t stop whatever this is.”

“Excellent,” Loki hoisted you up in the air, letting you encircle his waist with your legs.

It was a new thrill sitting taller than Loki, giving way to a wave of confidence in your interaction.

“Just so you’re aware,” You kissed from his lips to his ear, your hands playing in his hair. “Only an act of God would change how I feel about you.”

“Luckily for me, I am a God.”


End file.
